I wasn’t expecting much from this film, I didn’t really care if it had a cohesive story-line or even memorable characters, all I wanted was some good action scenes that would put me at the edge of my seat and make me go wow. And to the film’s credit, there’s at least one or two good action scenes, but there are none that made me go wow and plenty that really disappointed. From the promotion and the trailers, this seemed like a film that had amazing stunts and top-notch visuals, but here too it falters as many of the actions scenes are filled with shoddy CGI and amateurish editing. However, despite all of this, I still found myself entertained throughout the whole 3 hour run-time, which is certainly an accomplishment worth mentioning. There’s a personality to this film’s mindlessness that just had me laughing at times when I certainly wasn’t suppose to, but it’s moments like that which kept me watching. Whether that’s a good or a bad thing, I’ll let you decide.
The story is unnecessarily complicated, it is definitely going to put people off who are expecting to see a riveting story line. However, there is an interesting story line in here somewhere, it is just buried knee-deep under twist after twist. By the way, just putting twists in your film doesn’t make it smarter or more interesting, it just strains credibility. There were some moments during the film where I genuinely didn’t know who was on whose side, and after awhile I just tuned out the story line and decided to just pay attention to the visuals. It helps when you tune your mind out in a mindless film.
However, the writer Sujeeth, definitely wasn’t going for this. He seemed to want us to pay attention to the story and be surprised by the twists, but I just wasn’t. The script needed more time to be fleshed out. Right now, the story for this film is no different from what you would expect in a local Telugu mass movie; however, since this is a 350 crore international multi-lingual starer this kind of story just doesn’t cut it. There is so much going on at times, so much that isn’t clear, that trying to make sense of the story is going to frustrate you. This would have ruined any other film for me, but because this is an action film that was clearly more focused on the stunts and visuals, I didn’t care so much that the story was weak, but I wanted to see some good actions scenes.
And this is where the film really disappointed me. Despite having an enormous budget and the best crew at hand, the action scenes are lackluster and average at best. If anything, this was the one thing that I wanted this film to get right and it couldn’t pull it off. The action scenes are muddled and in-cohesive, with lazy CGI. The editor of the film, A. Sreekar Prasad is one of the best, if not the best, editor in Indian cinema, so it was really surprising for me to see the action sequences being edited so roughly. There were times when I couldn’t even tell who was chasing who. Maybe action films like this aren’t his forte. Even the grungy cinematography, which looks great at times, is also sometimes over contrasted and at others drastically de-saturated. Why? Things like this shouldn’t be happening in such a big film.
However, more disappointing to some people will be Prabhas, whose acting in this film is sub-par at best. He is one of my favorite actors in Indian cinema, one that I have been watching and idolizing since I was a kid, but this was just not his best work, far from it. There is just something about the character that he plays that just doesn’t suit him, and the romance between him and Shraddha Kapoor is absolutely laughable.
Still, despite all of that, I’m giving this film a favorable review because, in all honesty, it entertained me for 3 hours straight and I left the theater having enjoyed myself. I laughed at the bad acting, characters and confusing story line, marveled every now and then at the grungy visuals and Prabhas, and shoved popcorn into my face. There is a lot wrong with this film but there is a certain pleasure in watching a burning building go down in high definition, a feeling which this film really encapsulated. If you are a Prabhas fan who wants to see a mindless film for 3 hours, Saaho is the best movie out right now. For everyone else, it’s best you avoid this mess.
It’s all a shame though because Saaho could have been a really good action film had it been in more capable hands. This is director Sujeeth’s second film, after having directed a small-time picture 5 years ago. He is certainly not experienced enough to direct a 350 crore film, I don’t think he had any plans to either. I suspect Prabhas had signed onto this film before Baahubali had become a tremendous success, which really raised the stakes on this film to heights the director couldn’t handle. Had this been a smaller film, with writing that didn’t try so hard to impress us every 10 seconds, I think it could have been a better film. As for Prabhas, who I am assuming thought of doing this film before the success of Baahubali, he now knows his mettle and capability so I hope he chooses his next project wisely.
